A Mystery in the Library: The Fiction Challenge

Use this fun, challenging activity to practice or assess students’ ability to find fiction chapter books on the shelf. I have been using this with 4th and 5th graders for several years and students enjoy it! It would also be appropriate for 3rd graders who have been instructed and practiced finding books, and would even by appropriate for 6th and 7th graders as a library review or orientation activity.

Students must follow instructions carefully (an important skill!), find the author’s books on the shelf, identify the first name of the author (accountability for finding the book on the shelf), and get reinforcement on how a fiction call number is created – the first three letters of the author’s last name.

Students get to move around the library and apply real world finding book skills to do this activity. I usually put students in groups of two and have one group start at the bottom, and the other at the top, so that they are at different places in the library. However, if I use it as an assessment one student completes it alone.

This can be a “Center Activity” while other students are at computers with another challenge, others have a informational book challenge, etc. Please see the LUCKY LIBRARIANS other activities to set-up your centers.

PLEASE NOTE: I use particular books for this activity.
If you do not have any of the books by one of the authors in your library, you can make some adjustments to make it work for you. Enjoy!